• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.34
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• pp.16.1-16.11
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• 2022

Background: Antimony is used in catalysts, pesticides, brake systems, pharmaceuticals, and synthetic fire retardants in the plastic, paint, and rubber industries. Accumulation of trivalent antimony compounds in the body can cause cardiotoxic effects and increase the risk of electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities and sudden death. Antimony exposure can result in action potential prolongation, causing a cardiac repolarization delay, which appears as QTc prolongation and T-wave abnormalities on the ECG. There are no studies on antimony-associated cardiac toxicity in Korea. Case presentation: Accordingly, the present study reports cases of ECG abnormalities in workers handling antimony trisulfide at a company located in the Gyeongsangbuk-do region. Nineteen workers employed at an automobile brake lining manufacturer were exposed to antimony trisulfide dust through thermoforming, grinding, and drilling processes. In 2020, the workers were reported to work 12-hour shifts, 5 days a week. The time-weighted average (TWA) of antimony trisulfide exposure measured in workers was 0.0028 mg/m³. Two workers were excluded from the analysis due to pre-existing medical conditions (cardiovascular disease). Of the remaining 17 workers, ECG abnormalities were found in 41% (seven out of 17: four with QTc prolongation and T-wave abnormalities; two with only T-wave abnormalities; and one with only QTc prolongation). Conclusions: This case report outlines the first few cases in Korea in which potential cardiac toxicity caused by occupational exposure to antimony was identified. However, data regarding cardiac toxicity caused by antimony exposure are still lacking in Korea; thus, additional studies are needed to identify causal relationships.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.215-225
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• 1999

To study the vertical variations of major elements, trace elements and rare earth elements(REEs) contents in deep-sea sediments, six cores from Korea Deep-sea Environmental Study area(KODES) were analyzed. Topmost sediment layers of KODES area are divided into two Units; brown-colored and peneliquid Unit I and pale brown-colored and relatively solidified Unit II. Contents of major elements, REEs, Cu, Sr and Rb in each Unit are almost same, while contents of Mn, Ni and Co in Unit I are two or three times higher than those in Unit II. R-mode factor analysis represents that surface sediments are composed of alumino-silicate phase (AI-Ti-K-Mg-Fe-Rb-Ce), apatite phase (Ca-P-Cu-Sr-Trivalent Rare Earth Elements) and Mn-oxide phase(Mn-Ni-Co). Factor scores in silicate and apatite phases in each Unit are nearly same, whereas those in Mn-oxide phase in Unit I is higher than those in Unit II. While NilCu ratio in Unit I is two times higher than that in Unit II. We interprete the geochemical fractionation of Ni and Cu as a result that Ni can be remobilized in oxygen-depleted micro-environment in Units I and II and then easily reprecipitated in Unit I, while most of Cu supplied together with organic material is decomposed mostly in Unit I and sorbed into apatite.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.229-244
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• 2013

Arsenic contamination may be brought about by a variety of natural and anthropogenic causes. Among diverse naturally-occurring chemical speciations of arsenic, trivalent (As(III), arsenite) and pentavalent (As(V), arsenate) forms have been reported to be the most predominant ones. It has been well known that the behavior of arsenic is chiefly affected by aluminum, iron, and manganese oxides. For this reason, this study was initiated to evaluate the applicability of manganese slag (Mn-slag) containing high level of Mn, Si, and Ca as an efficient sorbent of arsenic. The main properties of Mn-slag as a sorbent were investigated and the sorption of each arsenic species onto Mn-slag was characterized from the aspects of equilibrium as well as kinetics. The specific surface area and point of zero salt effect (PZSE) of Mn-slag were measured to be $4.04m^2/g$ and 7.73, respectively. The results of equilibrium experiments conducted at pH 4, 7 and 10 suggest that the sorbed amount of As(V) was relatively higher than that of As(III), indicating the higher affinity of As(V) onto Mn-slag. As a result of combined effect of pH-dependent chemical speciations of arsenic as well as charge characteristics of Mn-slag surface, the sorption maxima were observed at pH 4 for As(V) and pH 7 for As(III). The sorption of both arsenic species reached equilibrium within 3 h and fitting of the experimental results to various kinetic models shows that the pseudo-second-order and parabolic models are most appropriate to simulate the system of this study.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.9
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• pp.960-968
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• 2005

Purpose : This multi-center, open-label, clinical study was designed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a trivalent, live, attenuated measles-mumps-rubella(MMR) vaccine, $Priorix^{TM}$ in Korean children. Methods : From July 2002 to February 2003, a total of 252 children, aged 12-15 months or 4-6 years, received $Priorix^{TM}$ at four centers : Han-il General Hospital, Kyunghee University Hospital, St. Paul's Hospital at the Catholic Medical College in Seoul, and Korea University Hospital in Ansan, Korea. Only subjects who fully met protocol requirements were included in the final analysis. The occurrence of local and systemic adverse events after vaccination was evaluated from diary cards and physical examination for 42 days after vaccination. Serum antibody levels were measured prior to and 42 days post-vaccination using IgG ELISA assays at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK) in Belgium. Results : Of the 252 enrolled subjects, a total of 199 were included in the safety analysis, including 103 from the 12-15 month age group and 96 from the 4-6 year age group. The occurrence of local reactions related to the study drug was 10.1 percent, and the occurrence of systemic reactions was 6.5 percent. There were no episodes of aseptic meningitis or febrile convulsions, nor any other serious adverse reaction. In immunogenicity analysis, the seroconversion rate of previously seronegative subjects was 99 percent for measles, 93 percent for mumps and 100 percent for rubella. Both age groups showed similar seroconversion rates. The geometric mean titers achieved, 42 days pos-tvaccination, were : For measles, in the age group 12-15 months, 3,838.6 mIU/mL [3,304.47, 4,458.91]; in the age group 4-6 years, 1,886.2 mIU/mL [825.83, 4,308.26]. For mumps, in the age group 12-15 months, 956.3 U/mL [821.81, 1,112.71]; in the age group 4-6 years, 2,473.8 U/mL [1,518.94, 4,028.92]. For rubella, in the age group 12-15 months, 94.5 IU/mL [79.56, 112.28]; in the age group 4-6 years, 168.9 IU/mL [108.96, 261.90]. Conclusion : When Korean children in the age groups of 12-15 months or 4-6 years were vaccinated with GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals' live attenuated MMR vaccine ($Priorix^{TM}$), adverse events were limited to those generally expected with any live vaccine. $Priorix^{TM}$ demonstrated excellent immunogenicity in this population.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.206-213
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• 2014

Nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen have been widely known as important source of algal appearance in eutrophic water. In order to prevent lake eutrophication, it is required to remove these nutrients not only presented in the lake water, but also released from the sediment. In order to solve this problem this study, the trivalent lanthanum ions and ammonia Nitrogen ($NH_4{^+}-N$) for the adsorption capacity of a zeolite support as it combines the lake water has dissolved in the nutrient removal, as well as deposits in the eluted in the continuously adsorbing the complex to develop and study was to inhibit the growth of algae. In experimental results, lanthanum complexes when the adsorption characteristics were evaluated $PO_4{^{3-}}-P$ and the $NH_4{^+}-N$ removal was confirmed that has an excellent ability, when it applied lake water the time of Chl-a and the turbidity decreased. In this study, these results suggest that the lanthanum complexes produced inhibitory effects on algae in the lake water is determined to excellent. Further, when applied to a complex of lanthanum in lake water to a standard 48 hours Acute Toxicity Method of toxicity were measured, and the results for the toxic effect was not observed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1310-1314
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• 2006

Sulfur-substituted $LiMn_{0.9}Cr_{0.1}O_{2-x}S_x$ $(0\;\leq\;x\;\leq\;0.1)$ layered oxides have been prepared by solid state reaction under inert atmosphere. From powder X-ray diffraction analyses, all the present lithium manganates were found to be crystallized with monoclinic-layered structure. Electrochemical measurements clearly demonstrated that, in comparison with the pristine $LiMn_{0.9}Cr_{0.1}O_2$, the sulfur-substituted derivatives exhibit smaller discharge capacities for the entire cycle range but the recovery of discharge capacity after the initial several cycles becomes faster upon sulfur substitution. The effect of the sulfur substitution on the chemical bonding nature of $LiMn_{0.9}Cr_{0.1}O_{2-x}S_x$has been investigated using X-ray absorption spectroscopic (XAS) analyses at Mn and Cr K-edges. According to Mn K-edge XAS results, the trivalent oxidation state of manganese ion remains unchanged before and after the substitution whereas the local structure around manganese ions becomes more distorted with increasing the substitution rate of sulfur. On the other hand, the replacement of oxygen with sulfur has negligible influence on the local atomic arrangement around chromium ions, which is surely due to the high octahedral stabilization energy of $Cr^{+III} $ ions. Based on the present experimental findings, we have suggested that the decrease of discharge capacity upon sulfur substitution is ascribable to the enhanced structural distortion of $MnO_6$ octahedra and/or to the formation of covalent Li-S bonds, and the accompanying improvement of cyclability would be related to the depression of Mn migration and/or to the pillaring effect of larger sulfur anion.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.441-448
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• 2016

Heavy metal removal study is conducted from synthetic waste water by reduction and oxidation(redox) reaction of Cu-Zn metal alloy and adsorption reaction of aluminium silicate. Heavy metal whose ionization tendency is smaller than zinc are reducted in an aqueous solution, and the concentration of ionized zinc is reduced by adsorption reaction. The average diameter of metal alloy micro fiber is about $200{\mu}m$, and the surface area is wide enough to get equilibrium in a single cycle treatment. A single cycle treatment of redox reaction of Cu-Zn metal alloy, could remove 100.0 % of Cr(III), 98.0 % of Hg, 92.0 % of Sn and 91.4 % of Cu respectively. An ionization tendency of chromium is very close to zinc, but removal efficiency of chromium by redox reaction is significant. This result shows that trivalent chromium ion is expected to generate hydroxide precipitation with $OH^-$ ion generated by redox reaction. Zinc ion generated by redox reaction is readily removed by adsorption reaction of aluminium silicate in a single cycle treatment. Other heavy metal components which are not perfectly removed by redox reaction also showed very high removal efficiency of 98.0 % or more by adsorption reaction. Aluminium ion is not increased by adsorption reaction of aluminium silicate. That means heavy metal ion removal mechanism by adsorption reaction is turned out to be not an ion exchange reaction, but an adsorption reaction.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.618-622
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• 2004

Excitation spectra of the 1.6 rm emission originating from $Ho^{3＋}$：$^{5}$ I$_{5}$ \longrightarrow$^{5}$ I$_{7}$ transition in fluoride, sulfide, and selenide glasses were measured at wavelengths around 900nm where the fluorescing $^{5}$ I$_{5}$ level is located. In specific energy range where the frequency upconversion populating $^{5}$ F$_{1}$ state happens, the excitation efficiency of the 1.6 fm emission was deteriorated in fluoride and sulfide hosts. In selenide however spectral line shapes of the excitation spectrum and the '$^{5}$ I$_{8}$ \longrightarrow$^{5}$ I$_{5}$ absorption spectrum looked seemingly identical to each other. Differences in optical nonlinearity as well as electronic band gap energy of the host glasses used are responsible for the experimental observations. On the other hand, codoping of rare earths such as Tb$^{3+}$, Dy$^{3+}$, Eu$^{3+}$, and Nd$^{3+}$ was effective in decreasint the terminating $^{5}$ I$_{7}$ level lifetime. However, at the same time, some of the codopants increased unnecessary absorption at the 1.6 $\mu$m wavelengths via their ground state absorption. Though the lifetime quenching effect of Eu$^{3+}$ was moderate, it exhibited no additional extrinsic absorption at the 1.6 $\mu$m band.EX>m band.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.219-227
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• 2016

Chloride ions ingress continuously in reinforced concrete through pores of it by $Cl^-$. Finally, it causes a localized corrosion of the rebar and then it generates cracks on concrete structures. Recently, new materials removing harmful anions have been developed. Layered double hydroxides(LDHs) has an excellent ability to remove harmful anions because various anions can be adsorbed in the interlayer space between divalent and trivalent cations. Thus, LDHs has been applied in various fields. Especially, LDHs is expected to be effective adsorbent binding chloride ions. In this study, $Ca/Al-NO_3$ and $Mg/Al-NO_3$ LDHs were prepared by using a co-precipitation method. $Ca/Al-NO_3$ and $Mg/Al-NO_3$ LDHs were compared and analyzed by using XRD, SEM analysis. Many nano size hexagonal crystals were observed by SEM. Experiments for binding chloride ions of LDHs were conducted by using potentiometric method. The experimental data were measured every 15 minutes. It was observed that the chloride ion content is reduced by increasing of LDHs mass fraction and the reaction rate of $Mg/Al-NO_3$ is faster than $Ca/Al-NO_3$. In future studies, binding chloride capacity in cement materials will be evaluated based on results of this study.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.126-131
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• 1998

Reduction of hexavalent chromium to its trivalent form by leachate microorganisms was studied in batch and bench-scale continuous stirred tank reactor. The inoculum was a culture of microorganisms in leachate and capable of providing up to 90% chromate reduction during 72 h batch assay with $20mg\;Cr(VI)\;L^{-1}$ in minimal media containing different levels of leachate (10 to 60%) and glucose (50 to 200 mM). Addition of glucose increased the efficiency of chromate reduction, but adverse effect was observed with increase of leachate probably due to the competitive inhibition between chromate and sulfate ions. The continuous culture experiment was conducted for 124 days using synthetic feed containing different levels of chromate (5 to $65mg\;L^{-1}$) at room temperature. With a hydraulic retention time of 36 h, chromate reduction efficiency was mostly 100% when Cr(VI) concentrations in the reactor were in the range of 5 to $50mg\;L^{-1}$ Specific rate of Cr(VI) removal was calculated as $3.492mg\;g^{-1}\;protein\;h^{-1}$ during the period of 101~124 days from the start-up which showed 81.2% of average reduction efficiency. The results indicate the potential application of using leachate microorganisms for detoxification of hexavalent chromium in various chromium-contaminated wastewater from landfill or tannery sites.